Edinburgh University Chess Club

Just a quick note to say that this past weekend, Edinburgh University Chess Club entered a team into the British University Chess Association event, and came clear first. I will post about it in more detail when I have more time, but the winning team was: Adam Bremner, Gabriel Petesch, Boris Mitrovic and Clement Sreeves.

Our team is continuing to perform really well in the Edinburgh Chess League by winning against the last year’s champions – Wandering Dragons (4.5 – 1.5). We’ve won all our matches so far and next week we are playing the second match against the main rivals – Edinburgh 1 (who had lost only one match so far).

Adam analysed his game against an International Master (simply copy the text below into the text-field on this website http://chesstempo.com/pgn-viewer.html):

[Event "Edin Uni v WD1"]

[Site "Microsoft"]

[Date "2012.01.17"]

[Round "?"]

[White "(IM) Orr, Mark"]

[Black "Bremner, Adam"]

[Result "1/2-1/2"]

[ECO "A38"]

[WhiteElo "2181"]

[BlackElo "2068"]

[Annotator ",Microsoft"]

[PlyCount "76"]

[TimeControl "180"]

{590MB, Fritz11.ctg} 1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. d4 cxd4 6. Nxd4

Nc6 7. Nc2 O-O 8. Nc3 d6 9. O-O Nd7 {This idea from the Maroczy Bind seems

logical, although maybe it is best to pressure the c4 pawn with Be6 first. I

made this move in a few seconds.} (9… Be6 {[%cal Ge6c4]} 10. Ne3 {Not b3??

when the bishop on g7 will breath fire down the diagonal} Qd7 {[%cal Ge6h3]

This was probably a better way to play, as the knight on d5 is not much, and

the exchange of a pair of bishops only helps black’s task}) 10. Bd2 Nc5 11. Rc1

Bf5 12. b4 {Not consistant with the b4 pawn sac in a standard Maroczy.} (12. e4

{[%csl Rc4,Rd3,Rd4] The idea is to force this move which is more weakening

than strengthening} Bd7 {This was the idea, however stronger may have been

available. It is important to know this idea though.}) (12. Ne3 {Maybe the

better option} Qd7 {[%cal Gf5h3]}) (12. Be3 {Possibly best despite not looking

obvious} Qd7 13. Re1 Bh3 14. Bh1 {Just a possibility. White wants eitehr all

the minor pieces on or all off in a position like this}) 12… Bxc2 13. Qxc2

Nxb4 14. Qb1 Nc6 {It appears black has come out of this better. The pressure

down the b file is not much if black can play b6 after either securing or

moving the c6 knight. The whole idea of the pawn sac is to pressure the b7

pawn.} (14… a5 $2 {This slack move puts black on the back foot} 15. a3 Nc6 {

[%csl Ra5,Rb7] We can see the pawn structure is weaker for black with the

insertion of the two a pawn moves}) 15. Be3 Qc8 (15… Rb8 {[%cal Gd8a5] Qc8

is maybe a bit slow. This approach is a bit more dynamic}) 16. Bxc5 dxc5 17.

Qb5 Bxc3 18. Rxc3 Nd4 19. Qb2 Rb8 20. e3 Ne6 $6 {Mistake. The point of the

knight is to find a good square, not to defend} (20… Nf5 $1 {[%cal Gf5d6]}

21. Bh3 Qc6 {Black is much better here}) 21. Rd3 (21. Ra3 a6 22. Rb3 b5 23.

cxb5 c4 24. Rc1 cxb3 25. Rxc8 Rfxc8 26. bxa6 bxa2 27. Qxa2 Rc1+ 28. Bf1 Rbb1

29. a7 Rxf1+ 30. Kg2 Rg1+ 31. Kf3 Nc7 32. Qa3 e6 33. Qe7 Rbc1 34. Qd8+ Kg7 35.

Qd4+ {Obviously a Fire line, but I needed to see what was best to punish my

move. It appears it is punished with a forced draw, although this is almost

impossible to see}) 21… Rd8 22. Rd5 b6 23. Rfd1 Rxd5 24. Rxd5 (24. cxd5 $6

Ng7 $1 {[%csl Gd6][%cal Gg7f5,Gf5d6,Gg7e8,Ge8d6,Gc5c1] This would be

disasterous for white}) 24… Qc7 25. h4 Rd8 26. h5 Rxd5 27. Bxd5 Ng7 28. h6

Nf5 $2 {Looks most natural and strongest, but white has a nice resource} (28…

Ne8 $1 29. f4 e6 30. Bf3 Qd6 31. Kg2 Qf8 {[%cal Gf8h6]} 32. Qe5 Qxh6 33. Qb8

Qf8 34. Qxa7 Qd6 {Just an example of how the game could have gone. Black has

an evenish position, but with an extra pawn.}) 29. Bxf7+ $1 Kxf7 30. Qh8 $1 {

Now the position has nothing for black, despite the extra piece} Qd6 (30…

Nxh6 31. Qxh7+ Kf6 32. Qxh6 {[%csl Ga2,Ga7,Gb6,Gc4,Gc5,Ge3,Ge7,Gf2,Gg3,Gg6]

Possible, and may hold quite comfortably, but if we look at the pawn

structures, white is more solid. If the queens come off, white can play a4 to

lock the queenside and it will be horrible for black. Maybe a draw, but

certainly the worse side of it.}) 31. Qxh7+ Kf6 (31… Ke8 32. Qg8+ Kd7 33. h7

Qd1+ 34. Kg2) 32. Qh8+ Kg5 33. h7 Qd1+ (33… Kg4 $2 34. Qa1 {[%cal Ga1d1]})

34. Kg2 Nxe3+ (34… Kg4 $2 35. Qa8 {[%cal Ga8f3]}) 35. fxe3 Qe2+ 36. Kh3 Qf1+

37. Kh2 Qf2+ 38. Kh3 Qf1+ 1/2-1/2

As is often the case for us with SNCL, we sent out a team featuring a lot of different players from last time. Partly this is due to availability, and partly due to knowing we were playing the current league leaders in round 4. The match in the morning was against Kingdom Knights, who we were playing for the third year in a row now.

A nice comfortable win for us here. I was first finished in just over an hour when my opponent’s position suddenly collapsed as my opening activity proved too much. Jonathan and Boris also both had comfortable wins, being a few pawns up from very early on, and neither player looked in trouble. Weiyang fought out a even knight against bishop endgame, and despite setting up lots of traps, his opponent spotted them and the draw was unavoidable. On board 1, we had Marcos playing his first game for the Uni, and he put in a classy performance to outplay his opponent. A nice match in general, it seemed everyone was playing pretty good stuff. The second match was against Edinburgh 1, also sending out a beefed up team from last time:

A great result against what was a potentially very tricky team. First on the scoreboard was Jonny, playing some nice attacking chess to win in 20 moves. Weiyang was next to finish, and again drew, with his opponent not offering many chances to unbalance the game. A drawn rook endgame was reached, and both shook hands. Boris had a very strange game. Out of the opening he was much better, then made a few oversights to end up in a lost position. However, he fought back well, and eventually forced managed to break out of his position, winning in an endgame. My match was nice and dull as usual, and I gained a large positional advantage in the early middlegame, eventually grinding out the full point later on. Finally in another bizarre game, Marcos lost a rook endgame from a pawn up. It should be noted that the match was already won at this point, and in normal circumstances the two players would just agree the draw, but in an attempt to win the game, he overpressed and blundered, leaving his visibly releaved opponent to pick up the full point.

Anyway, after that great win, the league table now looks like this:

Top of the table, huzzah! The surprise package of the league this year is CSBOS 1, who have slipped under the radar a bit to climb to the same match points as us. We will play them next time, and they have still to face Edinburgh 1, so I would expect them to send out a very strong team for the final 3 matches. Top of the table for Christmas is always a nice place to be, and the next two rounds will be played in late February. For those of you who can’t wait until next term for some Edin Uni chess, keep an eye on the Hastings Masters tournament from 28th Dec- 5th Jan, where myself and Jonny will be heading. Hopefully we may sneak onto some of the live boards, so good news for all you insomniacs out there! Speaking of Christmas, I hope everyone has a great one, and see you next year.

This Monday, we played against Lasswade 1. Despite playing without Michal and Kaushal, we won the match convincingly – the score was 5 – 1. We played this match very solidly – only Jonny had some difficulties in his game. Our team was: 1. Gabriel, 2. Boris, 3. Adam, 4. Weiyang, 5. Suzy, 6. Jonny. Gabriel achieved a slight advantage, by isolating his opponent’s pawn and his opponent collapsed in the time trouble. I played a very exciting game, where my opponent sacrificed a piece for three pawns. I played a few precise moves, while my opponent made a few slips in a position, which was difficult to evaluate, so I won. Adam crushed his opponent in the opening, and it seemed that he is going to finish first. But then he misplayed, and had to win the game all over again. He managed. Weiyang won very convincingly, grabbing a few pawns early on in the game, and then slowly but reliably converted it into a win. Suzy played a nice active game, where she pushed her opponent into a very passive position, but it wasn’t enough for a full point. Jonny defended a very difficult position, and even ended up in a winning endgame, but our team won by that point and the draw was a good enough result.

Our next match is going to be a first home match this season – it is taking place in the Pleasance on Wednesday, 23rd of November at 7.15pm. Everybody is welcome to watch and cheer for us! We are playing Wandering Dragons 2. I will analyse my game this time – please forgive me for the overuse of  exclamation marks.

Copy the text at the bottom of the page to the following webpage to view the (commented) game move by move: http://chesstempo.com/pgn-viewer.html

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Black to play and win. This is the final stage of the endgame. The main achievement by black was creating a passed pawn. Now black passed pawns are strong, but white is fast as well. Which is the correct way of advancing the pawns, while keeping white’s pawns from promoting?

Hint: It might be okay to let white promote the a-pawn, if we get to promote our pawn as well. Game extensively analysed by Boris.

[Event "Edinburgh Chess League"]
[Site "Lasswade"]
[Date "2011.11.07"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Neave, George"]
[Black "Mitrovic, Boris"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B95"]
[WhiteElo "2126"]
[BlackElo "2219"]
[Annotator "M,Boris"]
[PlyCount "94"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nf6 4. Nc3 cxd4 5. Nxd4 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qf3 {I did
not know the theory after this move.} Nbd7 (7... h6 8. Bh4 (8. Be3 e5 9. Nb3
Be6) 8... Nbd7 9. O-O-O Qc7) 8. O-O-O Qc7 9. Qg3 h6 10. Be3 (10. Bxf6 Nxf6 11.
Bd3 Bd7 12. Rhe1 g5 13. h3 O-O-O) 10... b5 (10... Nc5 11. Ndb5 {I didn't like
my position after this move.} (11. f3 Bd7) 11... axb5 12. Nxb5 Qa5 13. Nxd6+
Bxd6 14. Qxd6 Ncd7 {Although black is probably better here.}) (10... Ne5 11. f4
Nc4 12. Bxc4 Qxc4 13. e5) (10... e5 11. Nb3 b5) 11. Bxb5 {I expected this move.
My opponent was prepared, and he knew this position.} axb5 12. Ndxb5 Qb8 $1 13.
Nxd6+ Bxd6 14. Qxd6 Qxd6 15. Rxd6 Ng4 $1 {A very good move, which activates my
position and removes a strong bishop.} 16. Re1 Ke7 17. Rd4 Bb7 (17... Nxe3 18.
Rxe3 Bb7 19. f3 g5 20. h3 $11 {... (50) 1-0 Fichtl,J (2470)-Evans,L (2540)/
Munich 1958/MCD (50)}) 18. f3 Nxe3 19. Rxe3 {I think that it is advantageous
for black to have both rooks on the board, as it is much easier to keep the
counterplay on the kingside and manage the white's queen-side pawns.} g5 $1 {
A very good move taking action on the king-side immediately. Preventing white
h4, which is good because he wants to exchange pawns.} 20. b3 {Finally my
opponent deviates from the Grand master game, which we followed without
knowing.} (20. h3) 20... h5 $1 $15 {Taking advantage of white not playing h3.}
(20... Ne5 21. a4) 21. Kb2 $2 {A clear mistake in my view. This way h-pawns
get to stay on the board, so I have a weakness to attack there.} (21. h3 Ne5
22. a4 Ba6 23. Re1 (23. Kb2 Rad8) 23... g4 24. hxg4 hxg4 25. f4 Ng6 $15 26. f5
Ne5 27. Nd1 Rad8 28. Rxd8 Rxd8 29. fxe6 Kxe6 30. Rh1 Bb7) 21... g4 $5 $15 {
Taking advantage of white not playing h3.} (21... Ne5 {In light of Nd5, it's
better to play this move first.}) 22. a4 Bc6 {My idea was to prevent the b4
move, but I missed Nd5.} (22... Rhg8 $5) 23. Nd5+ $1 {changes the character of
the position.} Bxd5 (23... Kd6 $4 24. Nb6+ Ke5 25. Nxd7+ Kxd4 26. Rd3#) 24.
exd5 e5 (24... gxf3 25. dxe6 fxe6 26. Rxf3 {Now white rooks are functioning
well.}) 25. fxg4 $2 {It gives black a passed pawn, and loses the
furthest-advanced white pawn.} (25. f4 $11 {white's chance} Kd6 (25... f6 26.
c4 Kd6 27. Rd2 Rhb8 28. fxe5+ fxe5 29. Kc2 Nc5 30. Rf2 e4 31. Rf5 Rf8 32. Rxf8
Rxf8 33. b4 Rf2+ 34. Kc3 Nxa4+ 35. Kd4 Rb2 36. c5+ (36. h3 Rxb4 37. Rxe4 Nc5
38. Rf4 Nd7 39. hxg4 hxg4 40. Rxg4 Ne5 41. Rf4 Rxc4+ 42. Ke3 $11) 36... Kd7 37.
Kc4 Rxg2) 26. fxe5+ Nxe5 27. c4 $13 {The computer tells me that this line is
in fact clearly better for White. Which reverts the evaluation of my last few
moves, and which makes Nd5 a good move.}) 25... Kd6 {Gaining an important
tempo.} 26. Rb4 hxg4 27. Rxg4 Kxd5 $17 {only a slight advantage for black
according to the computer.} 28. Rg7 Ke6 29. h3 {White would prefer to have
pawns on h2,g3 - stopping black pawns from advancing quickly.} f5 30. Rd3 Nf6
31. Rc3 Rac8 $1 {now that the passed pawn is created, one rook is enough for
black. White won't be able to stop black's pawns.} (31... Rhc8 $1 {is more
precise. Now even the computer agrees that white's positon is hopeless. It
didn't have any improvements on white's play.}) 32. Rxc8 (32. a5 e4 $19) 32...
Rxc8 $19 33. a5 e4 $19 34. Rg3 f4 35. Rc3 Re8 $6 {I played this move too
quickly. After looking at the lines after Rd8, I thought that the rook on e8
would be more useful. But I missed Kc1.} (35... Rd8 36. Rc6+ (36. Kc1 e3 37.
Rd3 Rg8) 36... Ke5 37. Rc5+ Kd4 38. Rf5 Nd5 39. c4 Nb4) (35... Rg8) 36. Kc1 Rg8
$1 {I played very precisely after a slight inaccuracy.} (36... Rd8) (36... Kd6
37. b4 Nd5 38. Rb3 e3 39. Kd1 f3 40. gxf3 e2+ 41. Ke1 Nf4 $19) 37. a6 Rxg2 38.
a7 (38. Rc6+ Ke7 $2 (38... Ke5) 39. Rc8) 38... Rg8 39. b4 f3 $1 40. Kd2 Nd5 $1
41. Ra3 Rg2+ $1 (41... e3+ 42. Rxe3+ Nxe3 43. Kxe3 $19 Rf8 (43... Ra8 44. Kxf3
Rxa7 45. h4 Ra4 46. c3 Ra3 47. Kg4 Kf6 $19) 44. Kf2 Kd5 45. h4 Kc4 46. c3 Kb5
47. a8=Q Rxa8 48. Kxf3 Kc4 49. Kg4 $11) 42. Kc1 (42. Ke1 e3 43. Rxe3+ Nxe3 44.
a8=Q Re2#) 42... Nc7 (42... f2 43. Ra6+ Kf5 44. a8=Q f1=Q+ 45. Kb2 Rxc2+ 46.
Kxc2 Qd3+ 47. Kb2 Qc3+ 48. Kb1 Qb3+ 49. Kc1) 43. b5 (43. Kd1 Rg1+ 44. Kd2 f2)
43... f2 44. b6 f1=Q+ 45. Kb2 Qf6+ $1 46. Kb3 Nd5 $1 (46... Rg3+ 47. Ka2 Rxa3+
48. Kxa3 Qc3+ 49. Ka4 Qc4+ 50. Ka3 Qc5+) 47. a8=Q Qc3+ 0-1

In our first match of the league we played against Edinburgh 1 – the strongest rated team in the league. Despite our average rating being 100 points lower, we managed to score a victory! The victory was marginal, but only the match points count. The match happened two weeks ago – sorry for the late post. The results by boards were:
Edinburgh 1                               –   University                       2.5 – 3.5
FM Neil Berry  2314                     –   Gabriel Petesch               1/2
Sebastian Gattenloehner  2243    -   Boris Mitrovic 2219           0:1
Calum MacQueen  2203              -   Adam Bremner                1:0
Andrew Green  2157                   –   Michal Jenicek                  0:1
Clement Sreeves  2148              -   Kaushal Khandhar            1:0
David Oswald  2144                   –   Jonny Edwards                  0:1
Our new team member Gabriel debuted well, by playing very solidly against Neil. After a year abroad, Michal is back, and despite not playing chess in Canada, he crushed his higher rated opponent. Adam sacrificed a piece in an equal position, because he thought that the team desperately needed wins. The sacrifice turned out to be very dubious. Luckily we won the match despite his loss. I reached an endgame quickly in my game, and after my opponent didn’t use his initiative correctly I ended up with a better pawn structure. I transformed the game into a clearly better endgame with R+N against R+B, where I trapped my opponent’s rook, and eventually won. Kaushal ended up in a passive position, where his opponents had an advantage of a bishop pair. Despite his good resistance, he lost in the end.
However Jonny saved the match by scoring a surprising (at least judging by a 300 rating point gap) victory against David, where he instructively opened up the kingside, despite his king still being in the centre. I decided to analyse this game. (Jonny is black.) For viewing it, just copy the text below into a textfield on this website: http://chesstempo.com/pgn-viewer.html

[Event "Edinburgh Chess League"]
[Site "Edinburgh"]
[Date "2011.10.26"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Oswald, David"]
[Black "Edwards, Jonny"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B07"]
[Annotator "Boris"]
[PlyCount "78"]

1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Be3 Bg7 (4... c6 {Is a more modern option -
Black refrains from playing Bg7, because white's attack is very strong, and if
white plays Bh6 black gains a tempo.}) (4... a6 {Hyper-modern.}) 5. f3 Nbd7 6.
g4 e5 7. g5 $6 {White closes the kingside position, by allowing black to block
the h-pawn with a knight on h5 and by closing his blacksquared bishop.} Nh5 8.
d5 $6 h6 $1 {A good active way of countering white's play.} 9. Qd2 hxg5 10.
Bxg5 f6 11. Bh4 ({After natural} 11. Be3 {Jonny had prepared} Ng3 $1 12. hxg3
Rxh1 $17 13. Bh3 Nb6 14. Qg2 Nc4 15. Qxh1 Nxe3 16. Qh2 f5 $17) 11... Bh6 $15
12. Qf2 a6 (12... c6 {puts more pressure on white.}) (12... Nc5) 13. Nge2 Nb6 14.
Rg1 Kf7 (14... Nc4 $1 $17 15. Rxg6 Bd2+ 16. Kd1 Kf7 17. Rg2 Be3 18. Qe1 Nxb2#)
15. Bg3 f5 (15... Nxg3 16. hxg3 Nc4 17. f4 Nxb2) 16. f4 $2 {It is easy to
forgive white for the need to do something about that bishop.} exf4 $17 17.
Nxf4 Nxf4 18. Bxf4 Bxf4 19. Qxf4 Rh4 $6 (19... Qh4+ 20. Qxh4 Rxh4 {And black
has a clearly better endgame.}) 20. Qd2 (20. Qe3) 20... fxe4 21. O-O-O Bf5 22.
Re1 Qf6 (22... Qh8 $5 {Is an instructive move.}) 23. Bg2 $4 {Leaving the
control of the important c4 square.} Re8 (23... Nc4 $1 $19 24. Qe2 e3 25. Rgf1
b5 26. Nd1 Rxh2) 24. Rgf1 Nc4 $19 25. Qf2 Qg5+ 26. Kb1 Nd2+ 27. Ka1 Nxf1 28.
Qxf1 {Now black has a decisive advantage, which he converts to a victory
without much difficulty.} Kg7 29. Ne2 Rxh2 30. Nf4 Rh4 31. Ne6+ Bxe6 32. dxe6
Rxe6 33. Qc4 Re7 34. Bf1 Qd2 35. Rb1 Rh2 36. a3 Rh1 37. Qb3 e3 38. Qxb7 Rxf1 $1
39. Rxf1 e2 0-1

Black to play and win.
Jonny played some very nice moves in order to reach this position, but on the first sight, it isn’t clear that he is in fact easily winning.

Hint: White’s last two moves were Bg2 and Rf1.
Game analysed by Boris.

Firstly welcome back to a new season of chess for the University. The team matches are just starting up, and there is a real sense of optimism for the new season. One of the main things on the to-do list is to gain promotion in SNCL to the top FIDE rated section. The teams this year are a little trickier than last season, and there could be some great matches over the year.

Anyway, on to the matches. We struggled to find players available for the Sunday, so a big thanks to Daniel Maxwell for helping us out, and to Motiejus Gudenas for stepping in at the last moment. Round 1 went as follows:

Overall a great result. It has to be a bad sign when I play on board 1, and in this game I just remained chronically passive from the opening and never threatened to get into the game. After a rather depressing 30 moves or so, I blundered and lost material, and later the game. This was only a minor blot on an otherwise great team result. Weiyang had another convincing win at SNCL, with a 19 move miniature. Kaushal was winning from quite early on, and simplified into a  totally won position. Motiejus, having not played much in the last 8y, played himself back into form the longer the game lasted, and eventually won a nice endgame. The final match to finish was Daniel, who eventually broke some stubborn resistance to cash in for the win.

Game 2 was against a team relegated from the top division last year:

The first game finished was Motiejus, who seemingly had found his groove from the morning game, and put in a powerful performance on a live board to put us 1-0 up. Things were looking comfy. Unfortunately Kaushal blundered his queen in a slightly better position, and suddenly the team was under pressure. Daniel had slipped into a slightly worse position, Weiyang’s game was an almost certain draw, and my own game was quite level. It was looking like my game really needed a win, and so, in a fit of uncharacteristic exciting chess, I sacrificed a piece for an attack. The resulting position was very complex but fortunately I was able to use a time advantage to really put pressure on my opponent, who eventually cracked. Weiyang was then forced to agree a draw in an endgame which had nothing to play for. Daniel fought back quite well, but unfortunately lost his endgame after a lapse of concentration. Overall, not a terrible result, but the draw does mean we will have to step it up in the next few rounds, which will be played in late November. the league table looks as follows:

The big showdown with Edinburgh 1 in the SNCL will happen in our next outing, and it could prove crucial in determining possible promotion places (top 2 teams get promoted). Finally, please excuse a shameless plug here. As a club we are always delighted to see new faces at our club nights, so if you are interested in playing some chess in one of the friendliest clubs in Scotland, then just turn up to the Pleasance from 8.15pm on Wednesday night. The room can vary, but normally it is either the Lomond room, or the Cheviot room. All different levels of player turn up, so please don’t be shy! If you want any more information, then feel free to email one of the committee (emails are in the link on the right).

After a much needed Summer break, the chess club will be returning with the new term. For all people interested in joining our society, please come along to our stall at the Fresher’s Fair where you can ask us any questions you may have. We will be in the Upper Trust Hall in the Pleasance on Wednesday 14th and Thursday 15th September from 11am-4pm, just keep your eyes peeled for the coolest stall in the hall (the one with the chess board). If you are not able to make it and have any questions, just send one of the committee an email which can be found in the links on the right.

Immediately following the final round of SNCL, the Scottish Team Lightning took place. This is a competition open to all clubs in Scotland over 4 boards, with a time control of 5mins each. Having 5 players, we decided to arrange our team on live ratings, with Pavlos on b1, Boris b2, me b3, and Kaushal and Weiyang rotating on b4. We were initially put into groups, where the top few teams from each group would advance to the final. We drew our first game to Edinburgh West, but put on a better showing in the remaining matches to come top of our group, and make it into the final. The final was an all play all league composed of 8 teams. To give you an idea of the strength of some of these teams, one team had a 2200 on bottom board, while another had an IM on bottom board! We fought well, and put ourselves into great position with a shock win over the favourites, by 2.5-1.5. The event was decided on game points rather than match points though, and eventually we finished in 2nd place, just a single game point behind the winners. Obviously quite gutting initially, with everyone thinking what if they had just converted one of their losses. However, to put things in context, the result means we have the second best 5min team in the country. Quite a staggering achievement for a team that has come so far in the last 2y, and one that confirms we are now one of the top clubs in the country.

Here is the final table:

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Also, I feel I have to say a special congratulations to Pavlos, after winning the Edinburgh FIDE Open over Easter. He finished on 4.5/5 with a field including a GM, an IM, and several FMs. His final tournament performance was 2488. In the same section, Boris finished on 3.5/5 with another 2200+ TPR. Also congratulations to Jonny, who won his section with a convincing 5/5. All I can say is look out Premier Division 11/12, we’re gearing up nicely for another (hopefully successful this time) title challenge!

In the final round we were playing Ayrshire Armageddon, a team scrapping about in the relegation zone. As is often the case,  these teams bring out their best players for the final round, and it proved less one sided than form would suggest.

It was unfortunate for them that their planned bottom board did not turn up, as the 1000+ point rating gap on b5 was fairly convincing (Weiyang having an estimate of 1969 for next year).  In a quick run down of the other boards, Boris built up a good position and eventually crashed through for the point. The other 3 of us were less impressive. I was totally lost in my position, but a 20min walk round the park allowed me to clear my head and come back fighting, eventually quelling the attack, and launching a successful counter. Kaushal was taken out of theory pretty quickly by his opponent, who often has a habit of playing openings off the beaten track. It allowed black a very comfortable game, and ultimately the draw. Pavlos on b1 continued his mysterious poor form at SNCL, after being seemingly better. My guess is he just wanted to finish his game to play football with the rest of us, after we abandoned him for taking too long. The reason for our own very strong line-up with the title already won will be revealed in the next post…

Here is the final league standings. Congratulations to Kingdom Knights for joining us in promotion to the second division.

Just a quick post showing the results from rounds 7-10. A mixed bag here really, some great results, and some not so great.

As I have already posted, we lost the league narrowly. Here was the final league table:

Final League positions – 2011